Latitude and Longitude
Every place on Earth has an address made of two numbers. Learn to read them, convert between the two formats, and find the distance between any two points.
An invisible grid around the Earth
- Latitude measures how far north or south of the equator you are: 0° at the equator, up to 90° at the poles. Lines of latitude run east–west, like rungs on a ladder (“lat-ter”).
- Longitude measures how far east or west of the Prime Meridian (through Greenwich, London) you are: 0° to 180° each way. Its lines run pole to pole.
Coordinates are always written latitude first: the Statue of Liberty is about 40.689° N, 74.045° W.
Signs instead of letters: in decimal form, north and east are positive; south and west are negative. So 74.045° W is −74.045.
Degrees, minutes, seconds vs decimal
Older maps and GPS units use degrees, minutes and seconds (DMS). 1 degree = 60 minutes; 1 minute = 60 seconds.
- 41 ÷ 60 = 0.6833
- 21 ÷ 3600 = 0.0058
- 40 + 0.6833 + 0.0058
- 40.6892° N
To get coordinates for any spot: in Google Maps, right-click (or long-press on a phone) the place; the numbers appear at the top of the menu.
How far apart are two places?
One degree of latitude is always about 111 km (69 miles). Degrees of longitude shrink as you head towards the poles, so for real distances you use the great-circle formula, which follows the curve of the Earth. Flights follow these curved routes, which is why they look bent on flat maps.